Components

Chondroitin is an acidic mucopolysaccharide found in cartilage, skin, cornea, and umbilical cord. It is composed of alternating N-acetylgalactosamine, D-glucuronic acid, and sulfate residues in equimolar quantities that can be sulfated on either of its subunits. Sulfation can occur at the 6 and/or 4-position of the galactosamine moiety, with potential for any individual disaccharide unit to be 6-sulfated, 4-sulfated, 4,6-disulfated, or unsulfated.

Application

Chondroitin sulfate is used in a wide variety of areas of research such as bioengineering. Chondroitin sulfate may be used as a biomaterial copolymer or surface derivatization reagent in the development of drug delivery vehicles, tissue engineering devices and bioscaffolds. Chondroitin sulfate may be used for the development of biocompatible structures such as hydrogels, sponges, biofilms, microspheres and micelles.

Funcation

Sharks are a cartilaginous fish recently largely caught for fins to be served as healthy menu, so that their flesh and bone are often wasted in the ocean. Their unique history and life in the ocean has encouraged numerous studies to obtain bioactive compounds that could be beneficial for human. Shark cartilage is especially composed of complex protein and carbohydrate bound with certain tissues without nerves and blood support . Based on clinical studies, shark cartilage was able to control the growth and the spread of tumor cells, help reducing bone pain, avoiding rheumatic diseases, strengthening and maintaining bone function,relieving soreness and gout, maintaining body health and vitality and avoiding crooked spinal abnormalities.

On the other hand, the ability to synthesize glucosamine in human body will decrease as people get older. This change is affected by the decline in the ability of proteoglycans to produce glucosamine that will lead to osteoarthritis disease .